May River breaks through against Bluffton; Beaufort, Hilton Head Island roll

The weight is lifted.

Those were the words from May River coach Rodney Summers on Friday night following his team’s 35-21 win over rival Bluffton. It was the first win for the Sharks in five meetings with their rival.

The first two meetings were lopsided, with Bluffton winning by a combined score of 127-3. Last year’s two losses were decided by 10 points or less.

“I feel really proud for the kids to come back from the beatings we took the first couple years,” Summers said. “But we stayed the course, stayed the process and are having some success.

“It is the same thing when we were at Westwood and finally beat (rival) Blythewood in the third season. We have been building, and our hard work pays off.”

Running back Brandon Morales rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Morales’ 1-yard run in the fourth quarter gave the Sharks a 28-21 lead. Travis Polite-Grant added a TD later in the quarter.

“The offensive line was the MVP of the game,” Summers said. “Ahmad Green also had a great game. He missed a couple of deep balls, but we were able to connect on them later.”

Green had 105 yards passing and a score.

Bluffton’s Shamar Sandgren had a TD catch and also returned the second-half kickoff for a score. Quarterback Lee Kirkland threw a TD and also ran for one.

Hilton Head Island 34, St. James 0

Quarterback Gaston Moore was 12-of-19 for 262 yards with three touchdowns as the Seahawks shut out the Sharks.

It was Hilton Head’s first shutout since blanking May River, 53-0, in 2016.

Sterling White led HHI receivers with three catches for 90 yards. Will Frith totaled 100 yards and three touchdowns.

Cole Demarzo caught two passes for 44 yards and two TDs.

Beaufort 48, Battery Creek 6

James Dagin and Amariee Morris each ran for two touchdowns as Beaufort extended its winning streak over Battery Creek and improved to 2-0 on the season.

The Eagles have defeated the Dolphins 13 straight times.

Quarterback Jeffrey Smyth added a TD pass and run for Beaufort.

Ridgeland-Hardeeville 29, Estill 0

The Jaguars won for the second time in five days with a win over Estill.

Ridgeland-Hardeeville had a quick turnaround after defeating Woodland on Monday. The Jaguars broke open a 7-0 game at the half with three second-half TDs.

Brandon Howard had an 80-yard TD run for R-H.

Whale Branch 47, Cross 0

Wofford commit Irvin Mulligan ran for four touchdowns as the Warriors moved to 2-0.

Jaheem Hazel added two scores for Whale Branch.

Thomas Heyward 56, John Paul II 19

The Rebels moved to 3-0 with a win over the Warriors.

Trey Pusha returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns and also had a TD catch. Pusha also picked off a pass on defense.

Bobby Payne and River Pender each added TD runs, and Jake Masters threw a touchdown for THA.

Zach Doe, Freddie Aiken and Melik Frost had TD runs for John Paul II

Colleton Prep 21, Hilton Head Prep 20

Colleton scored all of its points in the second quarter and held on to beat Hilton Head Prep.

Stone McDonald threw for 191 yards with two total TDs for Hilton Head Prep. Hunter Hopman rushed for 99 yards and a TD and Trevor Weldon kicked two field goals.

This story was originally published August 25, 2018 at 2:55 AM.